Bought my Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm this morning. Expectations are high... At this moment I have also the Sigma 150-600 "C" and the Tamron 150-600 to my disposal.I was trying the Sigma 150-600 "S" a couple of weeks ago. Fantastic lens but too heavy to my taste, at that moment.... Weight difference between the Nikon and the Sigma "S" is "only" 560 gram.

First impressions after approx 100 pictures on my D750:

Very solid, well built lens. I did not expect that in relation to it's price setting.

2,3 kg is just around the limit of what I consider as comfortable to carry around. If weight would not have been a factor in my choice, I would have gone for the Sigma 150-600 "S"

As a macro shooter I like to test these kind of lenses also at closest focusing distance and although closest focusing distance is 2.2 meter the result is excellent!At closest focus distance, the Nikon 200-500 is soooo much better than both tamron 150-600 and sigma 150-600

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From the first pictures I took I had the feeling that the VR of this lens is just amazing.

To test the VR I did an extreme experiment:Even though AF doesn't function anymore with the 2 x TCe -yes, it tries but it's not useable- I took some picture HANDHELD at 1000mm and a shutter speed as slow as 1/6 sec indoors and 1/15 sec outdoors

Indoors under artificial light at 1000mm on D750 at 1/6 sec, handheld:

Full exif:

Outdoors under early morning light at 1000mm on D750 at 1/15 sec , handheld:

Nikkor AF-S 200-500mm VR ED with 1.4 x TCIIIeI'm sure that the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR works very well with the latest version 1.4x TCeIII, but I don't own that TC right now. I have the latest sigma version and this works so-so...On behalf of this lens I will buy a nikon 1.4TC III and publish test results later.

Nikkor AF-S 200-500mm VR ED with 2x TCIIIecorrection after further testing: TMHO the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR is not useable with the 2xTCeIII. On shorter distance it seems OK, but with the subject at further distance, IQ is unacceptable.

With the subject at long distance, on tripod, LV and exposure delay, this was the best result I could capture... This might be partly the result that I am not good in manual focusing... Anyhow, unacceptable to my taste...

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Congratulations on your latest acquisition! I hope it will serve you as you expected. There was a time when I would consider buying it myself but its weight would make me think twice nowadays. But as far as I can see the images are what you expected.

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In another review I read that "it's only made for long distance while it doesn't focus close and while F5.6 is too slow". I respectfully disagree with that.The combination of great sharpness wide open (F5.6) and incredible vibration reduction makes it very useable for close ups...

Underneath a picture taken handheld at F5.6(*), iso 3200, and 1/50 shutter speed.

and a 100% crop of the original image:

(*) To ensure you that it's taken handheld I also posted the full exif, where you can see that VR was on, and VR doesn't work on tripod.

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Top lenses are considered to be sharp already from their widest aperture. This gives an advantage in shutter speed, iso setting combined with noise levels and subject isolation against the background (DOF). According to some people, price wise the 200-500 F5.6 AF-S cannot be a top lens, but several times I found out that this bias does not always fit with reality...

In relation to that I got a couple of requests to document with images how sharp the 200-500 AF-S is at F5.6....

For direct viewing on this forum and saving bandwidth in the same time I posted a 1000px largest size image .Under each image I posted a 100% crop and you can see the full exif and a thumbnail size image of the AF point as you see in Nikon Capture NX-i.

And a 100% crop of the above image:

And a 100% crop of the above image:

And a 100% crop of the above image:

And a 100% crop of the above image:

And a 100% crop of the above image:

And a 100% crop of the above image:

And a 100% crop of the above image:

And a 100% crop of the above image:

And last but not least, NEVER a detailed review without a picture of my little ( ) darling :

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The nikon 200-500 has two caracteristics which turn it into an amazing lens: very sharp wide open and astonishing VR.Another sample of the incredible VR, taken yesterday evening while getting dark, handheld at 500mm and 1/13 sec, :The image comes straight from the memory card, no PP at all.

I really LOVE this lens, after one year of use and now with a second copy after I exchanged my first one for a sigma 150-600 because of weight. Both my first one and the new one are exceptionally sharp, and already from F5.6.It's a 200 to500mm telezoom and normally not intended to do close up photography with, but I use it also for this very frequently.

A couple of days ago I went to the natural parc next to where I live and I found a quite large number of dragonflies, the first one I saw in this area this year.

Some pictures...

the above image is a crop from the Original.

And a 100% crop of the above picture...

And a 100% crop of the above.

Sitting dragonflies are an easy subject, while dragonflies in flight can be rather challenging to get a sharp one...

Among all lenses I tested on the Z7 with FTZ adapter, the 200-500 AF-S Vr impressed me the most.It focuses and locks focus relative fast but it blew me away with images in the very close focus range, with an even significantly better VR performance than the extraordinary VR this lens natively already has.Underneath 2 images taken HANDHELD, Manual mode, 1/1250 sec, F5.6 @ 500mm. Auto iso (iso 560 & iso 400)The images haven't been sharpened in PP. Only converted from NEF in view NX-i with my preferred picture style for this kind of images.

and a crop of the above image, resized to 1000px longest side: (click on the image to get the 100% crop)

and a crop of the above image, resized to 1000px longest side: (click on the image to get the 100% crop)

Under while I'm working on a more complete Nikon Z7 hands on review...